Mechanism for handling eggs



May 12, 1959 C. PAGE ET AL MECHANISM FOR HANDLING EGGS Filed Oct. 4,1954 3 Sheets-Sheet l xgmm INVENTORS CLARENCE PAGE y GEORGE A. PAGEATTORNEYS c. PAGE ET AL MECHANISM FOR HANDLING EGGS May 12, 1959 3Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Oct. 4', 1954 INVENTORS CLARENCE PAGE BY GEORGE A.PAGE ATTORNEYS May 12, 1959 c. PAGE ET AL MECHANISM FOR HANDLING EGGSFiled Oct. 4, 1954 5 Sheets$heet 3 INVEQNTORS CLARENCE PAGE BY GEQRGEA.PAGE

ATTORNEYS United States entOfiFice 2,886,168

Patented May .12, .1959

railfThe free endofthe gaterests'upont-the beltiora purpose that will belater described.

168 "Withthe construction as'thus. far described if-eggs are i advancedon the belt Ainto contact with -t he,gateF,.they "MECHANISM FOR i 5 willbe normally deflected thereby onto thethlatform -C i 1 i it Y "ofa"station. This will continue until the eggs thus d e- F Page Gem'geA' gDetmlhlMlch" flected fill the platform from the raillD at theouter-edgeiifi'fg i a fii Egg E i; 2 :32: 32 $32232 thereof to the edge of the.belt A. 1Further -lateral deflec- 'tion of the eggs will be prevented byobstructiontof those Application 0ct0bert4, 1954, SerialN0."459,928stored. The tension of the spring Gflis limited sotas to t i i A permitswinging open ofthe gate byltheipressurewf eggs 12 Claims" 15 '18s) Ibehind the same and this will permit them to continuead- Vancement toanotherstation, ..which. is similarly.,-provided i with a gate" T0avoiddangerof breakage ofq-thet eggs,

The invention relatesto a mechanismfor'handlingeggs 15 .the mass of thegate is relativelylow-to limit inertia therei and more particularlytorconveyingaridid fi h g egg of and the velocity of itsireturn rnovementis also-limited to apluralitytof stations, at eachofiwhibh'operations'such by the" friction of the outer: edge portionofltheergate on as candling, grading, et cetera,'are'manuallyjpejrfo'rjmd. the surface ofttheubelt-A. FA- weight Fatt-achedto" the It is one of the objects of the invefitiontobbtain a.outertendportion-of "the gate will. providet-aedownw andconstruction'by'which-distributionisiautomatically varied 2O :pressHrerequired "to. produce; the desired-friction.

corresponding to conditions at the several stations. The quantity ofeggs handled in a given time-depends It iS a furtherobject tO'accomplish this'result without on. the tamount depositedton, thebelt.from .t l1e.source,hand subjecting the eggs t0-impacts or-others forcesw ch g [the operators at t thetseveralstations can-usually- -take careresult in breakage. i i of all deposited eggs. If, however,theiquantitytadvaneed w lt isafurther-objecttotprovidela'cconstructioninclliding ti lgreater than the capacity ofithe-oper ators, some' provileXtehdihg--adlaeeflt-10'iai'sefies 0f 1"elleeesswe sion-isrequired-for-takingt caretof thesurplus. one means stations, each ofwhich has a predetermined egg storage t f h purpose i h n in Figsf} and4 andewn ist p y and also including means for deflecting eggs of anauxiliary storage for eggs at each station. This comfrom e con y r at eStatien until filled to p y prises a platform H beyond each gate F inthe direction of and then automatically continuing advancement of thereadvancement oveih b l Th rear d f hi l mah'lihg eggs 011 the eohveyel'to another stetlenform is obliquely inclined to correspond to theinclination It is a further object to provide under control of the of hgate in its normal position. Normally the plat- Operatof additionalStorage p y at a Station and to form H is laterally withdrawn to be overthe platform C Check advancement of eggs on the Conveyor when exceed- 5and with onlyits edge portion overlapping the belt. When, ing the p y ofthe p f t0 e care Ofthe Semehowever, additlonal storage space 1s requred the platform Still further it is an ob ect to pIOVlde manually C011-H is moved utward be -1g guleied by shdpnig engagement trOlled means forPP further P P eggs at a with atransverse rail H. In this outerposition, when the station where the latter is not filledtocapac1typlatform C at the station is filled with eggs and the gate Withthese and other objects I111 VIEW the IHVCIIUOH COII- 40 F is swung openthe eggs cont nu ng to advanve w th the sists of the constructlon as h rl Set fOIThbelt are forced upon the platform and accumulatlon there- Inthe accompanying drawings: h d1 on until the mass is sufiicient to checkfurther advance- 1 is a P View Of a Portion of the egg eh ment. In otherwords, when the friction of the eggs demeehahism illustrating theautemetie means cohtl'olhng posited on the platform H is greater thanthe advancing distribution of eggs between stat1ons; force by frictionof the belt, the whole mass will be held 21's 3 eress-seetiell 0111iI 1efrom further advancement and those eggs resting on the g- 3 is a Viewslmllaf t0 1 showll'lg the euXlhaIY belt will be merely revolved. Assoon as the operator 1s storage means at a station; able to take care ofthe eggs at the station including the is a crtlass-section 15m line 4-4off glping de augiliary storage, the flatfotrm 1I-Ilcan be withdrawn. th

18 a P an Vlew S ewmg means Q or some uses an par icu ar y in connec ionw1 P of eggs at a Station when the latte! 15 not filled to hatcheries,it is desirable to separate eggs with respect to capacity; origin. Thus,if the eggs of one class advanced by the gis a Section 9 line of t beltare less in quantity than the storage capacity of a Illustrated, A 15 yp g g lif h l gvgg station, it is desirable to prevent other eggs frombemg w r 35531352tiititfifatiifhfit 536th these Sta. 5 33 ggg i ggfgggeg gg gg 'ieg zgggtg g g gg g lions has a Platform C eXtehdhlg rbeheath the placed between'the belt and the station. A simpleconletereuy at 6 side thercof and ha l g a fall struction is shown inFigs. 5 and 6 where the station platoufer edge. I; isbalglllxldeab(i)1ve andbexltengltl dg 10 51 form (31 has a sepailatebpfrticanh cthetr eof (ad acent to ltau iha 3 OH e e t 15 re may 6 00 m not un erappingt e e t. is por 1011 Is connec e desired position over the beltspaced at predeterm ned disto the portion by a hinge 2 which permits -fi i tance gram [the1 g: l g t tfi fl g s- 2122132}; it fiiprlalrjdi Pluswill olprtigse an further deflection of eggs pivotayatace 3.0116611 Oera1 0 t e etontotepaorm normally extending obliquely therefrom forwardof the With the apparatus as above described the advancebelt to thestation edge thereof. The gatens preferably 65 merit and distribution 9fthe eggs to h several etetions made ofdsidieet rfiaitlerial toFl2)e reilll y l j i g g zfig g Stay be rfeiulaied to suit conditlons and with amlnlmum is provi e wit anges an em rac angero rea age above and belowthe same and engaging the pin F. A What We 1 i as our invention i lightCoil Spring G is Placed on the P above the flange 1. In mechanism forhandling eggs, a conveyor travel- P thaving its ends connected to therail and t0 the gate to ing in a horizontal plane for advancing eggsthereon, a resiliently bias the latter towards its oblique positionwhile station platform adjacent one slde of said conveyor insubperrnitting outward swinging to a position parallel to the stantiallythe same plane, a gate above said conveyor said platform to anon-deflecting position parallel to the direction of conveyor movement,and resilient pressure means for normally holding the gate in the formerposition limited to yield to c'umulative pressure of eggs'against saidgate occasioned by resistance to deflection of eggs has limiting meansfor the area on which eggs may be deposited whereby eggs filling saidarea will block further "deflection of eggs from said conveyor.

3. The construction as in claim 2 having'a series of successive stationsadjacent to said conveyor, each provided with a gate of the characterdescribed. I

4. The construction as in claim 1 in which the resilient pressure issufficient to return said gate against egg pressure when deflection isunopposed.

5. i The construction as in claim 4 having means for retarding thevelocity of return movement of said gate to limit its impact pressureagainst the eggs and thereby avoid breakage.

6. The construction as in claim 5 in which said retarding means isformed by friction of the gate having its free end resting upon saidconveyor.

7. The construction as in claim 2 having additional i.

storage means foreggs at said station when said gate is displaced.

8. The construction as in claim 7 in which said additionalstorage'means' comprises a plate movable over'said conveyor beyond saidgate on which'the eggs advancing with said conveyor are deposited whensaid gate is displaced.

9. The construction as in claim 8 in which said plate is suflicient inarea to eventually prevent further advancement of eggs on the conveyorby the frictional resistance of deposited eggs on the plate.

10. The construction as in claim 9 in which said gate extends obliquelyover said conveyor and said plate has a corresponding oblique rear edgeadjacent to said gate in its normal position.

11. The construction as in claim 2 provided with additional manuallycontrolled means for blocking displacement of eggs from said conveyorwhen said station is not filled with eggs to its capacity but after apredetermined number have been received.

12. The construction as in claim 11 in which said additional means is asecond gate adjacent to said conveyor normally out of path'of eggsdisplaced therefrom but movable into said path.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS856,993 Teague June 11, 1907 1,558,014 J aenicke Oct. 20, 1925 1,929,913Clemon et a1 Oct. 10, 1933 Carter Sept. 3, 1957

